


A Daughter is a Precious Thing

by Chaerring



Series: The Maggie Banner Series [4]
Category: Marvel (Movies), The Avengers (2012), Thor (2011)
Genre: Asgardians suck, Gen, Loki wishes he was a better father, Norse Mythology - Freeform, Remember Loki has kids, Thor is actually a horrible uncle, sliiiiiightly AU?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-06-02
Updated: 2012-07-08
Packaged: 2017-11-06 14:31:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/419964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaerring/pseuds/Chaerring
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Loki decides to pay Avengers Tower a visit. He's not expecting the Hulk to have a girl child.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheGreatSporkWielder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatSporkWielder/gifts).



> Disclaimer: None of the characters (but Maggie) are mine.
> 
> Thanks to TheGreatSporkWielder for beta-ing and Coffeebuddha for being a helpful sounding board.
> 
> Thank you so everyone who's giving me support in this series!

Loki had come to realize there was an ache in him that he would never be able to soothe. It was more than a decade since the breaking of the Bifrost and his leave from Asgard. A long time to Midgardian eyes, but only barely beginning to mean anything to his and Thor's. At this point, Loki was beginning to lose his grip on his anger. He didn't want to return to Asgard itself, wouldn't want to return there for a long time. He still had his pride, after all. He knew himself well enough to be sure his anger would rekindle itself threefold if he went back to Asgard too soon. His people, he cursed himself for still thinking of them thus, had long memories. Should he return before his actions receded into tales, he knew exactly what would happen.

It would be worse than it had ever been before. Thor would be hailed once more as Prince and Hero, and Loki would be once more punished and relegated to the shadows until he made some other mistake, brought some other humiliation on himself in an effort to gain the attention he deserved. No, he needed to wait longer. He could not return to Asgard so soon. They learned nothing. However, Loki was at a loss. He was growing bored of the endless cycle of scheme, fight, and lose to the Avengers. The losses had only bothered him in the beginning, before he had become fascinated with the odd resilience and creativity of mortals and their world. Now he was simply curious to see how many different ways he could touch them, make them react differently. It was amazing how much energy they put into things, and even more startling to comprehend that he and Thor were matching that energy against each other in battle, as though the humans were contagious in their fervor. 

After a particularly routine defeat, Loki felt tired, all the way through his bones and down deep into the core of him. Even his magic felt tired, but more than that, Loki felt old. He began to wonder why Odin had persisted as long as he did if life was nothing but what Loki had seen before him. 

Loki needed something. A new angle, a new trick. Something to light a fire under their asses and make them interesting again, even if just for a little while. Something so wickedly unexpected they would remember it for a long time to come. What had he not tried against the Avengers? What was too sacred, a rule his brother would never break, or think of being broken? It struck him suddenly, the hearth. It was the place no honorable fighter ever attacked. Loki had even avoided attacking the Avengers Tower, and they in turn had not sought him out like a dog, leaving the hunt to lesser capabilities of SHIELD. 

Yes, while they were cleaning up the usual destruction left behind by the fight that had just ended on the opposite end of the city, he could easily move across town and scramble their security. It would be a simple matter to slip in and leave creative surprises for them in their home. Nothing too nasty, because even he did not want to turn the Avengers’ safe haven against them, but pranks enough to disorient them, cause paranoia and general ire that they could take out upon one another. Satisfied with plan he commenced immediately, transporting himself to the tower and disabling the security system magically. However, once inside the building he didn't find it empty. Instead, there was a girl child looking green about her cheeks glaring at him. 

It never occurred to Loki that the Avengers might have children, or wards. None of them seemed much the type, save maybe the Captain. The little girl was turning green, though, which suggested she was the Hulk's get, and not the soldier's.

"Who are you?"

Unbidden, her boldness brought forth the memories of his own children that he had tried to shove out of his mind. It made him sick with longing for them. He blamed his sudden unbalance for the way he answered the girl immediately.

"I am Loki."

The girl seemed to deflate slightly, and he saw that she had indeed shrunk in her clothing, much like her apparent father. 

"Uncle Thor's brother!"

Loki didn't know how it made him feel to know Thor still referred to him as a brother to his comrades' progeny. He especially was not prepared for the way the girl stepped forward and grasped his hand. Completely forgetting his original intentions, Loki followed, allowing her to tug him along.

"What is your name, child?"

"Margaret, but don't call me that. Call me Maggie. It's much nicer. Margaret's an old lady name, only Daddy and Jarvis call me Margaret." 

"Lady Maggie you shall be then."

He felt his lips twitch upward against his command when she giggled.

"What about you? Since Uncle Thor is my uncle, are you my uncle, too?"

Loki's heart froze in his chest at the thought of what might happen to the girl if she connected herself in such a way to him. It was fine and good to be Thor's niece, as long as you were unconnected to his silver-tongued brother. He would not take the chance of Maggie coming to any of the fates that his children had. 

"No; I am honored that you have asked, Lady Maggie, but no, it would be better if you simply called me Loki."

She stared up at him, and Loki felt as though he was being measured, like he had been many times in his life, but for once, when she was finished he saw her smile, and he didn't feel like he had been found wanting. 

Abruptly, Loki had the urge to do something for her, this remarkable little child who was not afraid of him. Something he couldn't do for his own daughter any longer. He knelt there, next to her, and gently grasped her thin shoulders to turn her towards him. It was odd, feeling a girl's form in even proportions under his hands. Whenever he had done such a thing with Hel, he had always felt the difference in her shoulders and arms. One of her sides was always colder and slighter than the other, half her face hollow and frozen, but it was nowhere near so bad as people had told of it, and Loki loved her, still loved her dearly even though she was nearly grown and ruled her own realm. He was proud of his daughter for taking the punishment Odin had dealt her for no reason and ruling in Niflheim like a queen.

"Lady Maggie, is there anything you want for? A toy or trinket you desire? Even something your parents have denied you?"

In truth, Loki would have preferred to give her something they had denied her just to be contrary, but that was up to her. She looked at him skeptically and her eyes narrowed in consideration as she thought. He watched her face go from wary to apprehensive as she bit her lip. 

"Uncle Thor...sometimes Uncle Thor tells stories. He's not very good at telling stories, not like Momma, or Jarvis, but sometimes if I pay attention long enough Uncle Thor says something cool."

Loki didn't stop his smirk at Thor's storytelling abilities. He and Volstagg had always bested Thor in that arena; even Hogun could spin a better tale when he was in a talkative mood.

"Is that what you would like? A story?"

Her foot shuffled on the ground.

"Not exaaactly."

Despite himself, Loki felt his curiosity growing.

"Why do you hesitate to speak?"

"The way Uncle Thor told the story....I think you might get mad if I ask."

His brow furrowed.

"I swear, I will not anger if you simply ask what you wish."

"Promise?"

"I swear on my daughter, Hel, that I will not anger if you make your request honestly."

Her eyes widened, though he wasn't sure if it was because of his daughter's name being similar to a Midgardian swear, or because of the solemness of his vow. He was pulled from his contemplation by the sudden declaration of Maggie's request.

"Uncle Thor said you could turn blue! Can I see? I've got a green Daddy, and sometimes Momma calls me her green baby, but I've never seen someone that's blue. You must be very pretty, like Momma's eyes."

Loki expected the fury to come. It always came when he thought of his Jotunn form. He knew now that his strange biology and the way he so carelessly learned magic without knowing the effects it would have on him contributed to the odd forms of his sons and daughter. Had he known his true nature, he could have stopped some of those changes or at least tempered them, and perhaps spared his children some of their pain, but that was another thing lost to him. Apparently, a promise was enough to quench the fires of his anger for the moment because he felt no ill will towards the girl for asking.

"If you promise to keep secret what you've seen, I will show you."

She nodded her head enthusiastically.

"I promise!"

He was surprised when she stuck out her smallest finger in front of him.

"Pinky promise!"

Bemused, he followed her motion and hooked his littlest finger with hers before releasing it.

"Watch carefully now."

She nodded again, and it amused him to see that she was holding her breath. Not to keep her waiting, he reached for the recently familiar feel of the glamour around him and let it fall away. She gasped, breathing again to his relief, and reached forward to lay a hand on his cheek. Her hand was like fire against his cold skin, unlike anything he had ever felt, but welcome anyway.

Of course, it was at that moment that the Avengers returned.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own anyone except Maggie. 
> 
> Thanks so much to TheGreatSporkWielder for betaing and thanks to her and everyone else for waiting over a month for the second chapter. Thanks especially to everyone who has left kudos and comments!

Maggie didn't expect Thor's brother to agree to show her his blue skin, no matter how much she wanted to see it. She had been so scared of making him angry. She paid as much attention to her family saving the world as they would let her, and she knew Loki wasn't particularly nice to anyone, but he especially didn't like her family because they were friends with Uncle Thor. She had gotten very scared when her godfather disappeared and Loki just appeared in her home. Jarvis didn't do anything. He didn't open one of her escape holes, or even politely reappear and tell Loki he wasn't welcome. There was just silence, and it scared Maggie because her godfather was never not watching. 

She knew Loki had to have done something to Jarvis, used magic on him to make him disappear. She knew she wasn't strong enough even if she was green to stop Loki. He was smaller than Uncle Thor, but he was still an alien and she was just a little girl. So, she stood there getting frustrated trying to figure out what she could do until she felt herself growing and he suddenly noticed her. For a moment, Maggie couldn't place the expression on his face, but she realized he was surprised. He hadn't been expecting anyone to still be home. It gave her a little bit of confidence. Aunt Natasha always said surprising people, and making them think you were smaller or dumber than they were was the best trick to play. She called it underestimation and Aunt Pepper had let Maggie answer her phone _twice_ when she had explained it on a lunch visit without stuttering. 

Maggie decided to be bold and put her Aunt's tactics to work until her family could get there. Only, she didn't have to for long. Loki was _nice_. Maggie didn't understand it. She had seen the news of him fighting her family before and he had looked so mean. Nasty and snarly-faced like a cartoon villain from Saturday mornings. The man in front of her just seemed tired and stretched out like a hair band that was almost ready to be thrown away. So Maggie took his hand and talked to him. She was surprised by how much she learned from him in just a few minutes. She learned that giggling made him almost smile, like Uncle Tony when Uncle Steve was trying to explain baseball. 

She learned that he was scared of letting her call him Uncle from the way his face stilled when she asked. It was probably a good thing he was scared. Maggie didn't think either of her daddies would approve. She also thought that maybe in this case, she could disobey a little and call Loki her uncle anyway. He seemed like he needed a lot of love. The most interesting thing though, something Maggie wondered why Uncle Thor had never mentioned it in his stories, was that Loki had a daughter. If Maggie had known that sooner, she would have asked for a play date instead of seeing his blue skin. 

For once, Maggie wasn't happy to have nearly her whole family walking into the tower as she stared at he new uncle. She had just asked Uncle Loki to show her his blue skin and it was a _big secret_. She knew even if Uncle Thor talked about Uncle Loki being blue, it didn't mean he went around showing everyone. She knew her green Daddy was probably waiting for her downstairs with Momma so they could have fun in the park together, but Maggie had to make sure Loki didn't get hurt first. Judging by the look on her Uncles' and Aunt's faces that might be a job too big for her little self. Maggie _knew_ her family was made up of superheroes, but she had never really seen them in action in person before because her Daddies and Momma said it was too dangerous. 

Here in her home, though, with Loki next to her, she saw them move so quickly. Uncle Thor had Mew-Mew raised over his head, and Uncle Steve looked like he was going to play Frisbee with his shield. Uncle Clint and Aunt Natasha stood in between Loki and Uncle Tony with their weapons drawn. Maggie only knew that Uncle Loki's blue skin was a secret and she was giving it away. It upset her, especially since her uncles and aunt didn't understand. They didn't need to hurt Loki when he was only there to visit. 

"Stop! Cover your eyes! It's a secret!" 

Maggie stepped sideways and flung her arms out wide trying to cover as much of the blue man as she could until he changed back. She wished she had been excited enough to turn green because then she could have covered a lot more space. She heard Uncle Loki stand up behind her and the rustle of his cape, just like Uncle Thor's. She peeked over her shoulder and sure enough, he'd returned to pale skin like her Momma's. She didn't appreciate the strange looks she got from her family and was about to explain when Uncle Thor spoke.

"Brother...I did not think you would stoop so low as to harm a child." 

Maggie opened her mouth to protest, but instead felt Loki's hand rest lightly on her shoulder.

"Is that truly what you think I came to do? Threaten Lady Maggie?"

She sucked in a breath to try and speak again, not understanding the confusion on the Thunder god's face, but Loki squeezed her shoulder and she ended up craning her neck to look at his face instead. For a moment, she was almost scared again because he looked like the cartoon villain facing down the heroes exactly like on the news, but she didn't run and it was just a matter of looking to see that he was still tired, still stretched out. 

"I do not know what to think any longer."

Maggie huffed.

"I know what to think! I think you should all hold your horses! Uncle Loki wasn't doing anything wrong!"

Somehow, Uncle Tony managed to shove his way past Aunt Natasha and Uncle Clint.

" _Uncle_ Loki?! Nothing wrong?! He's blocking all of the security circuits! You could have been hurt or killed and we would have never known!"

The hand on her shoulder squeezed a little tighter and she heard the smaller Asgardian murmur at her.

"I told you that was not a good idea."

Maggie simply shrugged as he continued speaking louder.

"I would not have let anything happen to Lady Maggie. I do not harm children, and I would save any that I had the opportunity to."

All of the adults except for Uncle Thor had varying looks of disbelief on their faces. Maggie thought her alien uncle was looking more and more like her did when Aunt Jane caught him eating the last poptart without sharing. He looked _guilty_ of something.

"Aye, my brother speaks the truth. He would not harm a child......for he has children of his own."

Maggie didn't understand the looks on her family's faces at all. Uncle Thor's face was the worst. He was looking away, somewhere past her and Loki, and Maggie felt a little like maybe he wanted to cry like she did when she knew she'd done something wrong and didn't know how to fix it. Maybe Uncle Thor had a Coldstone problem. She would ask him later, when Jarvis was back and she had gotten a hug from Momma.

Uncle Steve hadn't said anything yet, simply watched Uncle Loki the whole time, so Maggie was surprised when he was the one to continue the conversation.

"The stories...?"

Uncle Loki's hand on her shoulder grew cold and stiff, but Maggie was careful not to move or say anything about it. She didn't need to give Aunt Natasha a reason to tackle her out of the way like they had practiced sometimes.

"Pieces are true, and now that my children have yet again become the subject of gossip, I think I'll leave you, _brother_ , to answer their questions. They would rather believe you anyway. Lady Maggie, it was an honor to meet you."

Maggie felt his hand leave her shoulder and she turned catching it in both of hers. She had only gotten to see his skin for just a moment; maybe he would grant her another wish. Uncle Tony granted her more than one wish a day, after all.

"Could I have a play date with Hel, Uncle Loki?"

For a moment Maggie wondered if she had said something wrong, but then his head shook and he smiled.

"Hel lives far away, and is almost grown. Perhaps when you're older you can meet her. I'm sure if she was still young she would have loved to play with you."

Maggie always forgot that Uncle Thor and other aliens weren't as young as everyone else even if they looked like they were. She let go of Loki's hand, though and smiled.

"I understand. Thank you for showing me, Uncle Loki. I hope you come visit again." 

For just a moment, his lips flickered upwards and then he disappeared. She wanted to ask Uncle Thor so many things, but she would have to wait until she made it out of everyone else's arms.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, so I took a lot of liberties with Loki here. I loved him in Thor, but Avengers made me hate him like I should hate a villain, so I modified some stuff about him, brought in all his kiddie feels, gave him more reason to hate his brother and his father. Reasons I could handle. 
> 
> Also, about the magic modifying him and what not. I am completely unfamiliar with Thor comics so I've been developing a little headcanon about the magics of Asgard and what not. Loki, everyone knows will go to great lengths for power. I think some of the power he went for, the trials he went through to get it, he had to protect himself with other spells. I think he cast those spells to protect an Asgardian body, not a Jotun body trapped in a particularly awesome glamour. Therefore, I believe Loki's magic acquiring had more effect on him than he ever knew or imagined, and between the magic and his own nature, that's part of what contributed to how strange his kids came out. Plus, his first wife was a giant.


End file.
